Sunderland boss Gus Poyet is refusing to let Saturday’s 2-0 home loss to Hull City get the better of him and his players.

After an emphatic 3-0 mauling of arch-rivals Newcastle United at St. James’ Park last weekend, Poyet believed the Black Cats had finally turned the corner and were ready to start climbing the Premier League table.

But, after Wes Brown’s third minute red card set them on their way to defeat at the Stadium of Light, they now find themselves just a point above the bottom three and back in amongst the relegation battle.

Poyet told The Shields Gazette: “Everything was set up for a great afternoon’s football against Hull, and after three minutes it became very difficult.

“Normally in these games they are very tight, and there’s not much in it even if you are the better team. But it wasn’t a normal game so I’m not going to kill myself analysing the game.

“I think we can erase the afternoon from our memory. We have to make sure this doesn’t affect our confidence in terms of what we were doing before.”

And the Uruguayan also refuses to blame Wes Brown for the defeat and admits he has no problems with the red card.

“When you tackle and you’re the last man, it is always a risk,” he added.

“It doesn’t mean we are a dirty team. Wes made a decision to tackle in a difficult situation and he mis-timed it, and it was a red card, that was all.”